1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of telecommunication and, more particularly, to pre-connection telecommunication activities.
2. Description of the Related Art
Whenever an originating telephony device (calling telephone) attempts to establish a connection with (calls) a receiving telephony device (called telephone), the originating device receives an audio tone sequence called a ringback that signifies the receiving device is ringing. This ringback is an analog signal generated by a telephony switch. Most commonly, the destination switch, the switch to which the receiving device is connected, generates the ringback signal. Notably, the originating switch and the destination switch can be a single switch to which both the originating and the receiving devices connect. Regardless of which switch actually generates the ringback, a back channel is present between the destination switch and the originating switch and between the originating switch and the originating device that is configured to transport the ringback signal.
Conventional systems generally utilize a recorded message to generate the analog ringback signal received by the originating device. This analog ringback signal is commonly a general purpose, predefined signal. Accordingly, the originating device can receive the same ringback signal from a given switch regardless of the receiving device contacted. Consequently, the owner of a receiving device cannot modify the ringback transmission sent to an originating device.